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Are You Too Tattooed for CNA Training?

CNA Training

These days, almost everyone has a tattoo. Celebrities have them, your friends have, and even the conservative neighbor across the street has one. Today, you can find tattoos almost anywhere. However, even though there are reality television shows about them and conventions held in many areas of the world, that doesn’t mean the medical facility you work for after CNA training is going to approve of them.

It doesn’t even mean your CNA training program will allow them.

If you have tattoos, you might be worried about whether you will be able to enter CNA training or work in the health care field, and this is a very valid question.

CNA Training and Tattoos

When you first enter CNA training, you are most likely going to be told by your CNA training instructor that you are prohibited from having visible tattoos. In the majority of CNA training programs, the standard policy is that tattoos on the forearm, neck, wrist, hand, and face must be covered in some way at all times.

Different schools have different dress codes, however. Some may not allow students to wear bandages over their tattoos. Others may only permit tattoos if they can easily be covered by short sleeve scrub uniforms. Others may be less strict, only requiring students with lower arm tattoos to wear long sleeve under their scrubs.

If you have tattoos, you should check the policy of the CNA training program you wish to attend. However, you shouldn’t stop there. You should also understand that the policies between the classes you are taking and the clinical facilities your school will be using will differ. These locations have their own policies and while you may be part of the CNA training school, you will be required to follow them.

Medical Facilities and Tattoos After CNA Training

Just like CNA training programs, medical facilities you work after your training courses will vary on their policies as well. Some may not mind a full sleeve of tattoos, others will only allow a few visible tattoos, and some might require your tattoos to be hidden.

When you are thinking of interviewing for a position at a medical facility after CNA training, make sure to take a good long look at their dress code policy. Most often, if they do allow tattoos, there will be certain guidelines you must follow, such as:

Visible tattoos on the neck, arms, hands, or face must be less than one inch in size.

Some departments in the medical facility may have stricter policies regarding body art. If this is the case, that department’s own policies must be enforced and acknowledged.

If you are considering entering into CNA training, make sure you are fully prepared, especially if you have tattoos. While this form of self-expression is popular and widely accepted, it might not always be permitted in your program or even in the medical facility you want to work at after you have completed the program for CNA training.